Chaos Theory: The Filth is on! A guide to starting TSW's long-term event

Hot diggity dog -- it's finally here! Ever since we learned the title of A Dream to Kill last May, we've known that Issue #7 was going to to go out with a black-pulsing-slithery-tentacled bang. And The Secret World fans have been waiting with bated breath for the game's first first mega multi-month collaborative event, the culmination of which will be the introduction of Tokyo!

I thought that would get your attention. Yes, there's not a Secret World fan out there who isn't looking forward to the release of Issue #9 and all the glorious new areas to explore and missions to complete; in fact, it will be the first full new zone to come to the game since launch. Wait, so why all the fervor and why am I babbling on about Tokyo when we haven't even gotten Issue #8 yet? Because the Agartha filth event (as it was known up until now) was the first step toward both of these new issues. And now that step has been taken!

It's called The Whispering Tide event, and the mere fact that it has started means that Issue #7 is at an end and players must now actively work to open the Tokyo portal in Agartha. But this portal cannot be opened until the filth is pushed back and wiped clean from the World Tree. So if you want to get to Tokyo, you've got to jump in and contribute to the effort; the more players contribute, the faster it will go. And this guide is the perfect way to get started!

Like most TSW fans, I logged into game as soon as I heard the announcement (even before I finished writing the news post!) and rushed to Agartha. What I found was a ton of players dashing about and random pools of black filth bubbling up on the branch pathways. Someone said to jump down by the Kingsmouth portal, so I did. Subsequently, I wandered along that branch and caught sight of a severely filth-infected portal in the distance and a massive dive-bombing flying gargoyle thing flinging filth droppings everywhere. After a serious "EWW!" I heard someone else mention that Flappy (as the main creature is apparently being called by players) was spitting the filth down. I can only hope that is the correct version of events.

I also noticed after watching Flappy for a while that he entered into the severely infected gate (not to be confused with the one mentioned later). By Jove -- or should we say by Joel? -- I believe I might have found the Tokyo gate! I also predict that our friend Flappy will be the "brutal foe" that players will have to face at the end of the event, or at least a minion of said foe. Why do I make these predictions? Because we already know that the filth burst into Agartha through the Tokyo gate, and a giant filth-flinging monster going in and out of a specific gate point to that being The One. Of course, there is no way to reach it except through other portals, so the search for the pathway of filth begins. And portal number one has already been discovered!

Spoiler alert! If you want to figure everything out on your own, skip this section!

So, you want Tokyo and you're willing to work for it. Good! This is what you'll need to do: Stock yourself up on some pure metal and head to Agartha. Pure metal is the highest level of metal crafting material and is created via disassembling most QL 10 weapons in the crafting interface. It can also be created by assembling lower components of metals, with five sacred metal pieces making one pure. Even newer players can contribute by either getting metal from friends or combining the lower-grade metals all the way up to pure (five base make an imperfect, five imperfect make a metal, five metal make a sacred, and so forth).

In Agartha, you have to take the pure metal to a special purifier called Apparatus of the Cleansing Protocol at the one infected portal currently accessible. To reach this portal, just go to the very edge of the platform next to the Seoul entrance and jump to the branch below. Follow that and you will come to this:

You will find a side quest called A Cleansing Protocol that asks you to refuel the purifier. Whip out your pure metal and grab a stack of 20 vessels from the apparatus on the ground. Combine one of each of these items in your crafting window and you'll make five Ambrosia of Supernatural Quicksilvers. Click on the Apparatus of the Cleansing Protocol again and feed it the Quicksilver fuel. You can see how well the community is doing by the lights on the six fuel storage tanks: Yellow appears to mean full, and blue means partially full/in progress. The quest itself is not repeatable, but you can continue the process of making more Ambrosia and keep refueling the purifier.

There's more than just the PvE loot way to contribute to the event. PvPers can earn Black Marks of Venice in the battlefields and convert them into White Marks and buy barrier QL 10 potions from the HQ PvP vendors. These specific potions break down into sacred metal, which can then be assembled into pure metal. [Update: Shortly after publish, the first portal was opened by the community. The refueld custodian has blasted away the filth and offers another quest for players to travel into Corrupted Agartha via that portal solo or as a group to clear out the filth. This quest awards one Extant Third Age Fragment and has a 30-minute cool-down timer.]

And that's it... for now. Once this portal opens, I suspect players will have to find their way to another portal and repeat the process, or do something very similar. Who knows what all tasks will be involved! Remember, this is only the first step in a long-term event, the rate at which we proceed is entirely up to the community! And speaking of community...

As with all the recentevents, the community is pulling together to make The Whispering Tide a success -- a particularly good thing this time around as success will not be possible without the efforts of everyone! After jumping in and noticing that no chat channel existed and no coordinated effort to share info was yet underway, player Tolvi jumped in and created a new event channel (#WisperingTide) as well as a player-base thread to keep track of what players learn. Player Kharnjar also just recently created a special wiki for the event.

A few more of the folks contributing to the coordination effort are Allas, Rafferty, Mist-Rider, Ravena, Arivine, Manifest09, and Drako. And like the other events, during this event these helpful players have compiled a nifty FAQ for everyone to get all the info at their fingertips. So I am giving a hearty THANKS to Tolvi and the others who have jumped right in and pulled things together to help get this show on the road.

No event is complete without assorted goodies, right? Heck, sometimes people only participate in the events for the goodies! I am not too proud to say I can be numbered among that group at times. However, with Tokyo in the balance, I think there's a bit more of an incentive this time around! Extra goodies are just icing on the cake here.

So what's available? For starters, there is a set of event lore. The first piece is located down at the first portal on the left hand side. Number two is at the very end of Corrupted Agartha for the Enter the Filth quest -- you can't miss it. The other seven six have not yet been discovered yet, but I will add them as they are found. As with the other events, there is also most likely a reward for completing the entire set.

Completing the quest earlier also nets you 12 Extant Third Age Slivers. This is the currency used to purchase special items at the event merchant, who just happens to be a massive Agartha Custodian standing between the new York and London portals. You can buy turtlenecks or shirts for gals and turtleneck sweaters for guys, military pants, gloves, and one pair of bee pants (see inset). There is also a new Runic Automaton pet that appears to one of the Custodians. The clothing costs between 200-200 Slivers and 1-2 Fragments, with the exception of the bee pants, which take 20 Fragments. The pet costs a whopping 2,500 Slivers and 75 Fragments. The entire set of goods from this merchant will cost you 4,350 of these Slivers and 131 Extant Third Age Fragments (or 890 pure metal pieces).

All players also receive a special gift of five free Fragments via the item store (unfortunately, currently only one of two known ways to obtain the Fragments). Subscribers get a little something extra: On top of the Fragments, they get 21 Black Marks of Venice and 10 Black Bullion. These gifts can be claimed only once per account however, so be certain whom you wish to have them before claiming as they cannot be traded.

More perks are sure to be incoming as the event progresses, possibly even more pieces of the bee clothing set and so forth. Just as more content opens up as the community pulls together, individual contributions will also determine reward levels. So jump on in today and help the war on filth effort and I'll see you there!

Conspiracies, paranoia, secrets, and chaos -- the breakfast of champions! Feast on a bowlful with MJ and Justin every Monday as they infiltrate The Secret World to bring you the latest word on the streets of Gaia in Chaos Theory. Heard some juicy whispers or have a few leads you want followed? Send them to mj@massively.com or justin@massively.com and they'll jump on the case!